Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken—This easy chicken teriyaki recipe uses a homemade sauce made with pineapple juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic and ginger. It has the perfect balance of sweet and savory. You can even use frozen chicken! Make it a meal by serving it with rice, pineapple chunks and shredded cabbage.
Get the SLOW COOKER teriyaki chicken recipe here
Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken
Today I am sad. The reason? Because we ate all of this teriyaki chicken and there is none left. I shouldn’t fret though because I can make it again in just a few minutes and even pull frozen chicken out of my freezer without thawing it. I absolutely loved the combination of bites of tender chicken with the rice, cabbage and sweet pineapple. It was a winner!
I used a combination of chicken thighs and chicken breasts for this recipe. This is my preference because you get the best of both worlds–the healthier white meat chicken with the tender dark meat chicken. I used about 1 ½ pounds of thighs and 1 pound of breasts. If you’d like, you can just use one or the other.
Can I cook my chicken and rice at the same time? My goal was to actually do this but my chicken was frozen and was too bulky to fit my pot-in-pot rice into the Instant Pot. If you’re using a larger 8 quart pot or if you are using thawed chicken you should be able to make pot-in-pot rice.
More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes…
Instant Pot Chicken Tinga Tacos
Instant Pot Honey Mustard Chicken
Instant Pot King Ranch Chicken
Instant Pot Creamy Salsa Chicken
See all my Instant Pot Chicken Recipes
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly. It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.
Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
Description
This easy chicken teriyaki recipe uses a homemade sauce made with pineapple juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic and ginger. It has the perfect balance of sweet and savory. You can even use frozen chicken!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs and breasts (a combination is best in my opinion)
- 1 (20 oz) can sliced pineapple in pineapple juice
- 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce or tamari sauce
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 2 Tbsp minced garlic cloves
- 1 1/2 tsp sriracha
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- Optional items for teriyaki bowls: cooked rice, shredded cabbage, smashed avocado, sriracha sauce
Instructions
- Add chicken into the Instant Pot (frozen chicken is okay).
- Open the can of pineapple and pour ¼ cup of the juice into a bowl. Set the pineapple aside for later. Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger, garlic, sriracha and sesame oil into the bowl with the pineapple juice. Stir together. Pour the mixture over the top of the chicken.
- Spoon the brown sugar over the top of the chicken.
- Cover the Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 17 minutes for thawed chicken or 20 minutes for frozen chicken. When the time is up let the pressure release naturally for 5-10 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Shred up the chicken and then stir it into the juices.
- Serve the chicken in a bowl with rice, pineapple, smashed avocado, cabbage and a drizzle of sriracha.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Design Mom
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
What is the best way to incorporate mixed veggies into this recipe? With the rice or the chicken? Would I need to increase sauce or water?
Hi Erica, are you talking about frozen mixed veggies? If so I would stir them in after you release the pressure. They will cook quickly from the residual heat in the pot.
Hi Karen, I’m going to try pot in pot for the first time. The chicken calls for 17 minutes and the basmati rice for 4 as per your chart. So do I release the pressure and take the rice out after 4 minutes, then restart the chicken. Or can I just cook the whole thing for 17 minutes as the chicken recipe says? Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipes and tips!! Sue
In my experience, the rice should be just fine in there for 17 minutes. Because it’s sitting in a pot not directly on heating source it doesn’t get overcooked.
Can I ask, if I make the chicken and want to do white rice with it. After the chicken ready do I then add the rice and Cook on rice mode??
I would use the pot in pot method and cook the rice at the same time as the chicken. You can see how to do that here: https://www.365daysofcrockpot.com/how-to-make-pot-in-pot-rice/
Doesn’t your family ever get bored with shredded meat ? Every time I follow an interesting title I end up with shredded meat 🙄🙄🙄
There is something about shredded chicken or beef that is just not appetizing to me either. I usually just but the chicken or other meats into bite size chunks and that is much better for me. Just MY quirk I guess!
Hello Karen
I made this recipe for dinner…
All I had was frozen chicken thighs…
When it was all cooked, I added cashews and put the pineapples in the sauce and thickened with cornstarch! It was Delicious! I served it with basmati rice and green beans!
Thank you for this good food! My husband loved it!
★★★★★
Sounds so good! Glad you liked it.
I am missing what to do with the pineapple juice? Do you add it to the pot with the other ingredients before cooking?
I just clarified it but it’s in step 2: Open the can of pineapple and pour ¼ cup of the juice into a bowl. Set the pineapple aside for later. Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger, garlic, sriracha and sesame oil into the bowl with the pineapple juice. Stir together. Pour the mixture over the top of the chicken.
What if you don’t have rice vinegar? What can be substituted in its place?
white vinegar will work
I was thinking the same thing.
I do have white vinegar!🤗
Thank you! 😁
★★★★★
Loved this recipe!
I did not have Rice vinegar, but had Red Wine vinegar and Balsamic vinegar, so used 1 Tbsp. of each and the recipe came out great! I will make more sauce next time (double everything) as I used all chicken breasts and they soaked up most of the tasty sauce.
Would it be OK to mix the Brown sugar in with the pineapple juice, ginger, garlic and oil before pouring the mixture over the chicken? My Brown sugar stayed kinda clumpy on top of the chicken.
Thanks for another delicious recipe! Joyce
The reason I didn’t mix it in with the sauce is because I was worried it would burn to the bottom. You could try it and let me know if it works. I just didn’t want to risk it!
Well, I didn’t read the instructions & mixed the brown sugar in. And since I mixed up the liquids ahead of time ( like, a couple of hours!), the sugar dissolved nicely. Family really liked it.
Since I had a can of pineapple chunks, while I was shreddingmthe chicken, my husband walked by and mixed the chunks into the liquid, then I dumped the chicken back in & served it over rice.
I am going to put broccoli in next time. I’ll steam it on the stove top, then mix it in when I shred the chicken.
It was delicious!
Oh good!
I use apple cider vinegar
How would I do pot in pot brown rice?
1 cup rice 1.25 cups water (or that ratio). It should be done by the time the chicken is done or close to it. If it’s not cover the rice after removing the pan from the Pressure Cooker and allow the rice to steam, while you are tending to your main course.
I have a similar recipe where you take the chicken out of the pot, baste it with some of the sauce and broil it for about 4 min on each side in an oven. It really puts on the finishing touch. If you use skinless however, it might not be as tasty. Just a suggestion for taking it “up a notch”.
Yum that sounds fantastic.
Hi Karen,
Is it ok to leave the sciracha out?
Thank you !
yes of course!
Karen, I don’t have sciracha, come to think of it, I have no idea what that is.🤔 Will look it up in Google after this. 😁
Is there a substitute for it?
I’d sub with a hot sauce. Sriracha is a type of hot sauce or chili sauce made from a paste of chili peppers, distilled vinegar, garlic, sugar, and salt.